Garment



Nov, 12,, A9466 v c. DAPRILE GARMENT 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 26.INVENTOR Carmen 14 9f?! BY a QLM ATTORNEYS Nov. 12, 1946. c. DAPRILE2,411,129 GARMENT Filed April 26, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Carmendflprile flmvMM ATTORNEYS.

Patented Nov. 12, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE I Carmen dAprile, NewYork, N. Y., assignor to Panty-Zip, Inc., a corporation of New YorkApplication April 26, 1945, Serial No. 590,336

' 9 Claims. l

The present invention relates to garments which fit about the waist andencompass the individual legs near the crotch and which I define astrunks.

It is among the objects of the invention to provide trunks whichinherently fit fairly snugly without ungainly bagginess, but yet permitfreedom of vigorous movement without binding at the crotch, and whichsnugly embrace the legs and guard against exposure, yet withoutconstriction of blood circulation, the garment requiring a minimum offabric and being attractive in appearance, both on display and in wear.

The invention in its broader aspects is applicable to a variety oftrunk-type garments,.including drawers for men, women and children,trunks for sportswear, male and female, such as tennis and swimmerstrunks and playsuit pants, as well as trunks for theatrical performerssuch as acrobats and ballet dancers.

In important special embodiments disclosed herein, the invention hasparticular utility as a trunk-type garment worn over an absorbent pad,bandage or diaper, as for-example, for sanitary pants, for hopsital useand for babies pants.

According to the invention the garment comprises a sac-like trunk havingfront and rear portions with a transverse horizontal connection such asa fold line therebetween, the leg open- 'ings being in the front panelat a substantial distance above the transverse connection and preferablyalso at a substantial distance inward from the, sides of the fiatgarment. As a, consequence, the garment in wear will be under tension atthe front from the waist band to the leg openings, the borders of whichlatter extend obliquely upward from the rear to the front of the leg,while the rear portion of the garment hangs substantially without strainfrom the waist band to the leg openings and afiords excess materialadJacent the leg openings for freedom of movement, and in the pad,diaper or bandage holding embodiments affords a trough in which liquidmay collect without leak, whether the user is in upright or recliningposition.

In the accompanying drawings in which are shown one or more of variouspossible embodiments of the several features of the invention:

Fig. 1 is a front view of one embodiment of the garment shown in flatposition;

Fig. 4 is a view of another embodiment in distended position:

' openings and drawing the waist-band upward,

Fig. 2 is a side elevation showing the garment upon the upright body asworn;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, showing the relation of the garmentto the body in a sitting or reclining position;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4, showing one of the wings in openposition and folded rearward;

Fi 6 is a detailed view in longitudinalsection on a larger scale takenon line 8-6 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 'l is a plan view showing the fabricated blank from which thegarment of Figs. 4 made;

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 'l of a modification; and l Fig. 9 is aview showing the modification of Fig. 8, with one wing separated andthrown back.

Referring now to Figs. 1 to 3, the garment has a waist-band Ill fromwhich depends the trunk T which is sac-like, inasmuch as the lower endthereof is continuous and uninterrupted like the bottom of a sac and ispreferably a transverse fold line H between the preferably continuousuninterrupted rear portion I! of the garment and the front portion l3thereof. The leg openings H are wholly in the front portion of thetrunk, and are wholly above the lower end or transverse fold II, thelower. edge of the leg-hole being to 61s spaced from the bottom ortransverse fold line by a distance desirably at least one-half inch, butpreferably as much as an inch or more. The leg openings are preferablyseparated by a wide interval, as shown, which forms the crotch span IS.The outer edges of the leg openings are preferably well inward from thesides of the flat garment, that is, they are spaced from the edges l8,preferably to the same extent as they are spaced above the transversefold ll. openings are preferably oval in form, as shown, with the majoraxes a-a diverging outwardly and downwardly, as appears most clearly inFig. 1.- Each leg opening has a binder II, which may be a binding stitchor which may be of any suitable covering fabric such as silk, cotton orrayon ribbon connected in wise. v

The garment as thus far described,- if sufficiently elastic, forinstance, if of knitted fabric, might be put on by stepping through theleg until arrested by the fit of the leg opening binders II. If ofknitted or other elastic fabric, the

garment will fit securely and resiliently about the waist. The garment,if not of elastic fabric, may be provided with one or more releasablelines of fasteners such as hookless fasteners along the height of theside, front or rear, as shown in the embodiments of Figs. 4 to 9 to bedescribed here- The leg.

place by stitching or other- Figs. 1 to 3 may be provided, if desired,with a buckle or other adjustable fastenin means for secure fit aboutthe'waist.

In wear, the leg openings will extend, as best shown in Fig. 2,obliquely downward fromthe front to the rear, tension existing over thebelly from the front of the waist-band to the front of the leg openingbinder strips l1, and thence obliquely along said strips against therear of the legs, the oval leg, openings thus becoming elongated andtheir lengths being, therefore, pressed against: the sides of the legs.The rear of the trunk hangs from the waist-band, as shown, with slackprovided in the trough-like dependent portion l8 determined by thearea 1. of the front portion It which extends below and rearward of theleg openings. As seen, there is a greater length of material in thegarment that intervenes from the rear edge of the leg openings to therear than to the front of the waist-band. The tension from the front ofthe waist-band being taken by the leg openings atbinder l1, no tensioncan be transmitted to the crotch span I5, which moreover has adequatewidth for desired slack at the crotch and hangs loosely at its rear fromthe trough.

Thus the garment has no ungainly slack, it

,flts securely about the waist, and it fits about the legs without theconstriction of blood circulation incurred where elastic bands are used;and it is yet proof against exposure. It affords ample slack at thetrough l8 in the back for forward bending and permits vigorous motion,all without strain or binding at the wide crotch span. The trunksdescribed are, therefore,-useful as drawers for ordinary wear or astrunks for sportswear, such as for tennis, swimmers and play suits, andalso for theatrical performers such as acrobats or ballet dancers.

In the specific embodiments shown in Figs. 4 to '7, the garment isillustratively shown as a pair of baby pants desirably made of agenerally rectangular blank of suitable fabric. This fabric may be of asingle ply i2 of waterproof fabric, or if desired there may be also anouter ply 20 of silk, rayon or the like. Preferably the generallyrectangular blank has a pair of lateral notches 2| in its side edges,connected at their peaks 2| by a transverse fold line H which ispreferably midway between the ends of the blank, thereby to sub-dividethat blank into a rear panel I2 which is preferably continuous oruninthe wing section, is at a distance of one-half to one inch from theextreme edge and on the outer face thereof, so that when the garment isclosed the border 28 intervenes between the metal fastener 28' on theplaque edge and the body, diaper, pad or bandage.

The blank, as shown in Fig. 7, has a waist line element l0 along itsupper end and the composite section making up the front panel has waistline segments ill on the extreme transverse edges of the wings 22 andwaist line section Iii at the extremity of the plaque 23.

The fabric blank as shown in Fig. '7, is converted into the garment bysimply folding along the transverse line H with the waterproof fabric I2at the outside, and stitching together the registering-lateral edges I 6of the front and rear panels clear to the point 2| of the respectivenotches. In this operation the segments Iii of the waist-band aresecured to the ends of the waist-band segment ill. The assembly is thenturned inside out so that the ply 20 of silk, rayon or the like is atthe outside and the material beyond the seam at the lateral edges Itextends terrupted, and a front panel l3. In the front I6 of the frontpanel as above described. About the openings are the border strips l1above described.

The front panel is desirably symmetrically slit from the leg openings i!to the waist-band, thereby. determining identical wing sections 22, anda plaque 23 therebetween. Preferably lines of releasable fasteners areprovided along the lengths of both sides of the slit that is along theinner edges of the wings 22 and along the lateral edges of the plaque23, such fasteners cooperating to close the garment, as best shown inFig. 4. Preferably hookless fastenersare used for the purpose, and theseare of the severable type, as shown. Desirably, the two coactinghookless fastener elements are not both at the extreme edges to beconnected thereby, but one of said members, illustratively fastenerelement 25 on inward, as best shown in Fig. 6.

It will of course be apparent that after the diapered infant has beenlaid on the back panel of the open garment, the separated hooklessfasteners at the leg holes are simply brought together and then drawnupward to the waistband to close the garment, as shown in Fig. 4. Thusthe front of the garment is under tension between the waist band and theleg holes and that tension is distributed about the borders of the legholes which are elongated, as shown, and are spanned obliquely acrossthe width of the leg, as best shown in Fig. 2. The garment permitsfreedom of movement, freedom from binding at the crotch and securityagainst exposure, exactly as in the case of the generalized garmentpreviously described.

In addition, however, since a trough I8 formed by the portions b of thefront panel in combination with the lower edge of the rear panel frameseach leg opening from below as well as laterally of the body, moisturethat escapes from the diaper, pad or bandage will collect therein. Thewide crotch span l5 between the leg holes will fold and droop betweenthe legs and preclude leakage fromv the inner sides of the leg holes.The protection from leakage is afiorded, as will be readily apparent inFigs. 2 and 3, regardless whether the wearer is in upright or recliningposition.

=The waist line of the trunks may be provided with a more or'lessconventional adjustment strap 21 with two or more button holes 21' to beclosed selectively over buttons 28 on the waist-band, excess materialbeing taken up by oblique fold 29 in the tighter setting. Thus thegarment may afford the desired pressure against the enclosed diaper, pador bandage to confine the same and its free contents against shifting.

The embodiment of Figs. 8 and 9 is generally similar to that of Figs. 4to 7 and will, therefore, be briefly described. The plaque 30" isrectangular rather than triangular, and only one line of fastener 3| isused. Preferably the reinforce strip 36 at one side of the plaqueisduplicated at 31 at the other side thereof. Illustratively, darts 32 arestitched transversely inward from the sides in th back panel forenhanced fullness. The present embodiment is more especially suitable assanitary pants and to this end is made of single ply with only a middlestrip 33 oi? waterproof material for retaining the sanitary napkin. Thestrip 33 extendsfrom immediately below the waist-band 34 to the middleof the length of plaque 30. The user-steps into the closed leg hole-35,draws the garment upward about the napkin until arrested by the'bor'derof leg-hole 35 and then connects and closes the hookless fastener. I

Obviously the embodiments shown are more or less interchangeableiffmade'of :smtablesise, but

in general the form' of Figs. 4 iteflfis preferred for, babiespantsrandof Figs. 8 and 9 for sanitarypants.

As many changes could-bemade in the above construction, and manyapparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be madewithout departing from the scope of the claims, it is intended that allmatter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanyingdrawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limitingsense.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure'by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. Trunks having a waist-band, a sac-like body connected thereto, thelatter having a pair of leg openings wholly in the frontflthereof the"entire areav of each of said openings being well above the lower edgeof the flat garment.

2. Trunks having a waist-handle sac-likebody connected thereto, thelatter having apair of leg openings wholly'in the'front thereof theentire area of each'of said openings being well above the lower edge andwell inward from the lateral edges of the flat garment.

3. Trunks having a waist-band and a sac-like body dependent therefrom,including a continuous rear panel and a front panel of substantially thesame length and width as said rear panel, said frontpanel having a pairofleg openings therein spaced inward from the lateral edges of the flatgarment and spaced upward from the lower common edge of front and rearpanels, and a releasable connector extending .from at least one legopening to the waist-band, for facility of application and removal ofthe garment.

4. Trunks having a rear panel and a front panel joined togetherlaterally, said panels bein transversely connected, the front panelhaving a pair of leg openings therein with the rims thereofsubstantially above said transverse connection.

5.Trunks having a. rear panel and a front panel Joined togetherlaterally, said panels being transversely connected, the front panelhaving a pair of leg openings therein with the rims thereof 6substantially above said transverse connection and substantially spacedinwardly from the lateral edges of the trunks.

,Trunks comprising a rear panel, lateral wings thereon,; a crotch spanextending fromtthe lower ends thereof, a plaque constituting.an1uprightextension on said crotchspan, thegarment presentina;,curvedi--1ength-=-of border-extending 7. end; or each-=wing'and:alongthe scorresponding lateral edges of thecrotchmeans for releasablyconnecting the lateral edge alongzthe lows of each wingto thecorresponding lateral edge of the plaque,..thereby closing the curvedlength ing a forward. part and a rear part connected at their lower endsand of liquid-tight fabric, said forward part having a pair of leg ope ntherein above the lower end thereof, said openings presenting bordersand extending obliquely and upward in wear, the material bordering therear and outer part ofthe leg openingsforminga trough.

. an blank. fora pair of trunks, said blank be- .ing generallyrectangular in shape and'having a pair-of notchesin the middle of'itslateral edges defining 'therebetween a transverse fold line, saidblank defining a continuous rear panel to one side of the said foldlineand a front panel of substantially the", same area and to the otherside of said foldline, said front panel having a pair of leg openingstherein. spaced substantially from said transverse fold line and fromthe lateral edges thereof and defining a crotch span therebetween, said.front panel being sub-divided and comprising a pair of lateral wingsections and 'an intervening plaque beyond the crotch span, said blankhaving releasable fasteners including complementary elements along thelength of the plaque and along the corresponding lengths of the wingsections.

9; Trunks having a waist band, a sac-like body connected thereto, thelatter having a pair of leg openings wholly in the front thereof, wellabove the lower edge and well inward from the lateral edges of the flatgarment, each of said leg openings having a substantially non-elasticborder thereabout.

, CARMEN D'APRILE.

